I am pleased to be back to the friendly and hospitable Georgia. Once again, I would like to thank President Giorgi Margvelashvili for the invitation and a warm reception and, of course, for kind remarks.

This year we marked the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Georgia, and my year-end visit is a good opportunity to summarize our joint work, the results and our future plans. I am glad that we have many prospective projects on our bilateral agenda, and that we have a lot to do.

In the past quarter century, the Armenian-Georgian good-neighborly relations have developed on the basis of our peoples’ rich cultural traditions, interconnected history and common values.

Georgia has special attractiveness for Armenians; we really have friendly feelings towards the Georgian people. It is no coincidence that a large part of Armenians prefer to spend their holidays in Georgia.

I highly appreciate our effective talks with the President of Georgia, which, I am sure, will give new quality to bilateral relations.

I want to reaffirm our readiness to deepen cooperation with Georgia in the spirit of friendship, mutual understanding and harmony.

We are committed to maintaining active high-level contacts, which play an important role in terms of promoting bilateral agreements and launching new programs.

I think everyone understands that if there was a unfavorable attitude toward Armenians, then Armenians would not come to Georgia with pleasure.

Today, we addressed our ever expanding trade and economic agenda, first of all highlighting the ongoing cooperation in important areas, such as energy and transport, including the development and effective use of our countries’ transit capacities. We spoke about the programs to be implemented in tourism and the IT sector, given the great potential here.

The creation of joint ventures was also on the agenda of the meeting, and I told my counterpart that in my opinion, the Georgian side should avail itself of Armenia’s opportunities: the availability of free economic zones and the sale of its products in the markets of the Eurasian Economic Union. In this respect, any company registered in Armenia can be beneficial.

I want to highlight the role of the new free economic zone on the Iranian border, which will also give a great opportunity to export Georgian goods and services to another solvent market – the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Certainly, we have discussed issues of regional security and stability in the South Caucasus. In this context, we highlighted the importance of a balanced and constructive approach to sensitive issues.

We agreed that a comprehensive and long-term settlement of conflicts is only possible through peaceful means within the framework of agreed formats and only through negotiations.

It has been a rule for us, and I can say quite frankly that during all negotiations, we keep using such documents, such statements and resolutions that do not harm Georgia’s interests and I think that both for the Armenian side and the Georgian side the observance of this position can only benefit our peoples.

Once again, I wish to thank the Georgian President, the Vice Prime Ministers and the members of Government for effective talks, and reaffirm that we are keen to develop relations with the fraternal Georgia, and we will always abide by this standpoint.